Adnoc awarded a $744 million (Dh2.73 billion) contract to the UAE’s National Petroleum Construction Company to fully develop the offshore Belbazem block.
Adnoc subsidiary Al Yasat, a joint venture with the China National Petroleum Corporation, awarded the engineering, procurement and construction contract.
The Belbazem block is being developed to reach a production capacity of 45,000 barrels per day of light crude, with the first barrel of oil expected in 2023.
The development is part of Adnoc’s efforts to raise its production capacity to 5 million bpd by 2030.
The offshore block consists of three fields – Belbazem, Umm Al Salsal and Umm Al Dholou.
Adnoc holds 60 per cent stake in Al Yasat, with the remainder held by China’s CNPC.
“The NPCC was selected after a rigorous tender process that ensures it will deploy best-in-class technology and expertise to execute this strategic project, with a substantial part of the award value flowing back into the UAE’s economy,” said Adnoc's upstream executive director Yaser Almazrouei yesterday.
About 65 per cent of the award value will flow back to the UAE, according to Adnoc’s in-country value programme.
The Belbazem block, which lies 120 kilometres north-west of Abu Dhabi city, is also expected to produce 27 million cubic feet per day of associated gas by 2023.
Before the EPC contract was awarded, Al Yasat undertook a front-end engineering design, or Feed, competition to optimise the cost and time efficiencies of the project.
The company was able to reduce the tender time by up to 12 months after eliminating the need for technical bids. It saved about $190m in capital expenditure with the shortening of the tendering process, said Adnoc.
“The Feed competition and EPC award for the Belbazem offshore block highlight Al Yasat’s focus on costs and a competitive approach to ensure we can commercially develop our concession areas and deliver long-term and sustainable value for Adnoc and our partner CNPC,” said Al Yasat acting chief executive Shaheen Al Mansoori.
The NPCC’s scope of work includes the installation of three offshore wellhead towers – one in each field. Work to lay interconnecting subsea pipelines and cables to Zirku Island, located 60km from Belbazem field, is also part of the scope.
The NPCC is also required to undertake the development of greenfield infrastructure for water injection and treatment, gas compression, associated utilities and carry out brownfield works to tie in existing structures at Zirku Island.
Adnoc announced the development of a massive blue ammonia project on Monday at its downstream centre in Ruwais as it looks to increase the UAE’s hydrogen economy.
The company is working on the design phase of the plant at the Ta’ziz industrial complex, which is being developed in partnership with ADQ.
The plant will produce 1,000 kilotonnes of ammonia a year.
